In February 1316 during the Wars of Scottish Independence, Sir James Douglas defeated a numerically superior force of Gascon soldiery led by Edmond de Caillou at the Skaithmuir to the north of the town.

[6] In the 18th and 19th centuries, Coldstream was a popular centre for runaway marriages, much like Gretna Green, as it lay on a major road (now the A697).

A monument to Charles Marjoribanks (1794–1833), MP for Berwickshire, whose ancestral home was in nearby Lees, stands at the east end of the town, near the Coldstream Bridge.

Never wealthy or powerful, the monastery nevertheless occurs frequently in the history of the border lands, being targeted several times by English forces.

The house was used by both the English and Scots to gather information on each other, thanks to its location, the prioress treading a tightrope to ensure the survival of the monastery.

After the Battle of Flodden, the prioress had all the bodies of the Scottish casualties (apart from James IV’s, which was taken to England) brought to the monastery for burial - an event commemorated annually even today, by a procession & service, involving cutting a sod of grass from the battle field and it being carried back to Coldstream; since the priory is completely lost today, the sod is symbolically ‘buried’ on the Tweed Green.

"A former garden store will be converted at Bughtrig House in Coldstream to create the museum in his honour," BBC News reported.